Concert commemorates convict rebels
L-R: Billy Bragg, Director Steve Thomas, Lisa ONeil, Dr Tony Moore, Executive Producer Anna Grieve and Mick Thomas. Photo credit: Mark Hopper © Mark Hopper and Roar Film 2015.
Filming in Tasmania and Ireland commenced in November for Death or Liberty, the screen adaptation of the book by Dr Tony Moore, School of Media, Film and Journalism.
The highlight of the production was a free public concert in January based on the lives of the political convicts transported to the Australian colonies in the late 18th and 19th centuries. It featured performances by famous English troubadour Billy Bragg, Irish singer-song writer Lisa O’Neill and Australia’s Mick Thomas.
Dr Moore attended the performance at Hobart’s historic Theatre Royal.
“Along with reimagining of classic folk ballads, the majority of the songs were original compositions by Billy, Lisa and Mick, that brought to life some of the leading characters in the book," he said.
“Indeed the concert occurred in the same Victorian-era theatre where Chartist leader and son of a West Indian slave William Cuffay delivered witty, fiery speeches as a Tasmanian union leader in his new life as a colonial radical."
The concert commemorated the 3600 exiled convict rebels. Mr Bragg noted that music is an important way that the messages of political movements can be remembered and communicated, and by which the emotional aspect of struggles and sacrifice, like passion, sorrow, and hope, are conveyed to inspire new generations.
An interview with Mr Bragg about the concert is available to view online.
The Tasmanian government, through Screen Tasmania, invested $150,000 in the project, produced by Roar Film. It will be broadcast in Australia on the ABC, and also in Ireland and Wales.